A recent article in The Times highlighted the strain on ER departments across the country exacerbated by demands on GPs and waiting time for an appointment as well as the recent strikes now one step closer to resolution after consultants confirmed their acceptance of the governments pay offer.
I am delighted today after raising my concerns about ER patient waiting times and patient anxiety to receive a letter from Chief Executive Jo Farrar addressing exactly this with a range of measures to increase capacity and flexibility. I very much look forward to working with the team in ER to reassure patients and offer them confidence in the triage and treatment.
Dear Colleagues,
Pressure within our emergency department and on flow through the system remains challenging for us and we have recently re-established our ED and flow programme board, which I am pleased to be chairing, to support our work to make improvements.
It’s really important for our patients and local population that we take action to address issues of overcrowding and potential delays in receiving treatment, so I am committed to working with teams to give this the focus it needs.
The issues we face are much broader than the emergency department alone and so we are working with our partners in the community and in primary care to find solutions. We all have a role to play in ensuring patients are being cared for in the right place and in a timely way – it’s our responsibility to keep patients safe by ensuring we are doing all we can to support patient flow.
In this email, I wanted to share updates on our work to:
- Reintroduce our Clinical Decision Unit
- Expand the remit of our Urgent Treatment Centre
- Introduce trusted assessors
Thanks again for your support with this important work.
Jo Farrar (Chief Executive)
